Transportation

The Knight Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Initiative is a multi-year collaborative effort between the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon, Cityfi, the cities of Detroit, Pittsburgh, and San José, and Miami-Dade County (the “cohort”) to pilot and learn about automated mobility technologies today to shape the future of deployment tomorrow. This cohort partnered with Kiwibot to learn more about a new technology—sidewalk delivery robots. Through this partnership, Kiwibot tested different use cases and collaborated on community engagement opportunities in each locale. Given the proliferation of bills being passed by state legislatures legalizing deployment of personal delivery devices (PDDs) or sidewalk robots, and the increased delivery demand due to the pandemic, the pilots were well timed to able to meaningfully inform the cohort cities about the potential benefits and challenges of sidewalk delivery robots.

Today's urban transportation systems face increasing challenges such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, urban air quality, and traffic congestion. In this context, various initiatives of mutualized mobility have emerged. However, notably lacking is assessing the environmental impacts of mutualized transportation modes from a life cycle perspective. Using the actual urban transportation big data and related product life cycle data, this study combined with the life cycle assessment methodology and a “bottom-up” approach, explores the effect of mutualized mobility on greenhouse gas emissions of urban transportation systems for both Beijing and Toronto. The results showed that mutualized mobility might positively affect the sustainability of urban transport systems, albeit in very different ways.

How Uber affects public transit ridership is a relevant policy question facing cities worldwide. Theoretically, Uber’s effect on transit is ambiguous: while Uber is an alternative mode of travel, it can also increase the reach and flexibility of public transit’s fixed-route, fixed-schedule service. We estimate the effect of Uber on public transit ridership using a difference-in-differences design that exploits variation across U.S. metropolitan areas in both the intensity of Uber penetration and the timing of Uber entry. We find that Uber is a complement for the average transit agency, increasing ridership by five percent after two years. This average effect masks considerable heterogeneity, with Uber increasing ridership more in larger cities and for smaller transit agencies.

On May 7, 2016, residents of Austin, Texas, voted against Proposition 1, which would have allowed ridesourcing/transportation networking companies (TNCs) to continue using their own background check systems. The defeat of the proposition prompted Uber and Lyft to suspend services in Austin indefinitely. The disruption provided for a natural experiment to evaluate the impact of Uber and Lyft on users’ travel demand and the supply side implications of the entry of new players. Our paper focuses solely on the demand side user response to the disruption. In examining the impact, we conducted an online survey that combines stated and revealed preference questions (N=1,840) of former Uber and/or Lyft users in Austin to explore the effect of the disruption on travel behavior. In order to test our hypothesis of the impact of the service suspension on changes in travel mode choice and trip frequency we used regression analyses to model both the before and after travel behavioral pattern.

Using data derived from 597 face-to-face interviews with ride-hailing users in Chengdu (China), we examined the influence of ride-hailing on travel frequency and mode choice and further analyzed what the main determinants for these are.

This paper aims to examine the associations between ride-hailing and their spatial distribution in relation to key socioeconomic and built environment characteristics both at the trip origin and destination. To do so the study uses official data provided by Transportation Network Companies operating in the city of Chicago, with 32 million trips logged between November 1st, 2018 to June 28th, 2019. Among the built environment attributes we focus on the relationship between walkability levels and demand for ridehailing. Study findings indicate an association between ride-hailing and income levels, car-availability and raceethnicity.

The growth of app-based ridesharing, microtransit, and TNCs presents a unique opportunity to reduce congestion, energy use, and emissions through reduced personal vehicle ownership and increased vehicle occupancy, the latter of which is largely dependent on the decisions of individual travelers to pool or not to pool. This research provides key insights into the policy levers that could be employed to reduce vehicle miles traveled and emissions by incentivizing the use of pooled on-demand ride services and public transit. We employ a general population stated preference survey of four California metropolitan regions (Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San FranciscoBay Area) to examine the opportunities and challenges for drastically expanding the market for pooling, taking into account the nuances in emergent travel behavior and demand sensitivity across on-demand mobility options.

Even as ride-hailing has become ubiquitous in most urban areas, its impacts on individual travel are still unclear. This includes limited knowledge of demand characteristics (especially for pooled rides), travel modes being substituted, types of activities being accessed, as well as possible trip induction effects. The current study contributes to this knowledge gap by investigating ridehailing experience, frequency, and trip characteristics through two multi-dimensional models estimated using data from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. Ride-hailing adoption and usage are modeled as functions of unobserved lifestyle stochastic latent constructs, observed transportation-related choices, and sociodemographic variables. The results point to low residential location density and people’s privacy concerns as the main deterrents to pooled ridehailing adoption, with non-Hispanic Whites being more privacy sensitive than individuals of other ethnicities.

This report analyzes EV use in TNC fleets from 2016 through 2018. Data sets from TNCs and charging service providers are used to analyze charging and use patterns of EVs within TNC fleets. The emissions benefits of EV use withing TNC fleets is quanitfied, assessments of EVs to perform TNC services are made, and the effects of EV use within TNC fleets on charging behavior of non-TNC EVs is understood.

In this study, newly available Chicago transportation network provider data were explored to identify the extent to which different socioeconomic, spatiotemporal, and trip characteristics affect willingness to pool (WTP) in ridehailing trips. Multivariate linear regression and machine-learning models were employed to understand and predict WTP based on location, time, and trip factors. The results show intuitive trends, with income level at drop-off and pickup locations and airport trips as the most important predictors of WTP. Results from this study can help TNCs and cities devise strategies that increase pooled ride-hailing, thereby reducing adverse transportation and energy impacts from ride-hailing modes.

Transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft have grown tremendously over the last decade, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nonetheless, relatively little publicly available data exist about the users of these services, their travel behaviors, volume of use, the times and locations of TNC trips, and how TNC services are affecting transportation system performance overall. This paper describes the methods and descriptive results of the first large-scale smartphone-based TNC user survey conducted in the California Bay Area in the fall 2018 and spring of 2019.

The rapidly developing concept of carsharing is an essential and scalable part of sustainable, multimodal mobility in urban environments. There is a clear need for carsharing operators to understand their users and how they use different transportation modes to intensify the development of carsharing and its positive impacts on the environment and urban cohabitation. The researchers foster this understanding by analyzing usage data of carsharing in a medium-sized German city. They compare user groups based on individual characteristics and their carsharing usage behavior. They focus on a station-based two-way carsharing scheme and its relation to free-floating carsharing. 

Transport accounts for 40 % of global emissions, 72 % of which comes from road transport, and private cars are responsible for 60 % of road transport emissions. In cities, self-service bike sharing systems are quickly developing and are intended to offer an alternative and cleaner mode of transport than the car. However, the sustainability of such schemes is often taken as a given, rather than thoroughly evaluated. To address this gap, in this paper we undertake a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a public self-service bike sharing system in the city of Edinburgh, UK, modelling the production, operation and disposal elements of the system, but discounting additional food intake by users.

In 2021, City Council directed PBOT to identify new revenue sources that reflect the City’s policy goals, address the bureau’s structural deficit, and provide maximum flexibility to invest in our transportation system, and to present its recommended revenue proposals to Council during the FY 2022-23 budget development process. POEM is an initiative to raise funds for implementing transportatin options by essentially taxing driving.

Bike share systems are expanding efforts to be more equitable and accessible to everyone by offering adaptive bicycle options to people who might otherwise be unable to ride. These systems tend to range from the inclusion of electric bikes and standard trikes into the existing systems to offer a more full range of adaptive bicycle options for use at rental locations. Surveys of residents living in several low-income communities of color (n = 1,885) are used to explore the potential need for adaptive bike share options in urban locations. A national survey of cities and bike share operators (n = 70) is used to document the prevalence and basic models of adaptive bike share programming currently in place. Interviews conducted with bike share representatives in select cities with adaptive bike share programs provide context and details on how specific programs operate. Finally, interviews with adaptive bike share participants (n = 5) in Portland, Oregon, help to illuminate users’ experiences, including the perceived value and potential improvements for adaptive bike share.

Whim is an app service that consolidates transportation services into a monthly subscription. The app includes access to taxis, public transportation, and rental cars. The app's goal is to reduce vehicle ownership by offering convenient access to multiple alternatives.

Using experience from working on the Knight AV Initiative, Urbanism Next created this white paper to provide a foundation for public sector agencies to approach autonomous vehicle deployment and policy with a focus on equity. This report outlines ways that public agencies can identify community needs and shape deployment to ensure that AVs will be accessible for all. 

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will impose challenges on cities that are currently difficult to fully envision yet critical to begin addressing. This research makes an incremental step toward quantifying the impacts that AVs by examining current associations between transportation network company (TNC) trips — often viewed as a harbinger of AVs — and parking revenue in Seattle. Using Uber and Lyft trip data combined with parking revenue and built environment data, this research models projected parking revenue in Seattle. Results demonstrate that total revenue generated in each census tract will continue to increase at current rates of TNC trip-making; parking revenue will, however, start to decline if or when trips levels are about 4.7 times higher than the average 2016 level. The results also indicate that per-space parking revenue is likely to increase by about 2.2 percent for each 1,000 additional TNC trips taken if no policy changes are taken. The effects on revenue will vary quite widely by neighborhood, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all policy may not be the best path forward for cities. Instead, flexible and adaptable policies that can more quickly respond (or better yet, be proactive) to changing AV demand will be better suited at managing the changes that will affect parking revenue.

This report is an examination of parking, curb zones, and government service changes in the context of AVs. Given that there are very few actual AVs on the road, the analysis in this report is an attempt to project what we might see, using the current phenomenon as starting points. The report uses a mix of econometric modeling, cost accounting, and case studies to illustrate these projections.

In this report, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) evaluates the second e-scooter pilot project conducted in Portland, Oregon. PBOT used data and feedback from the community to evaluate the e-scooter pilot project, specifically evaluating "the potential for e-scooters to advance equity, ease traffic congestion and reduce climate-harming emissions."

COVID Mobility Works is an independent platform dedicated to collecting, synthesizing and sharing mobility initiatives that are keeping the world moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this platform is to help policymakers, innovators, researchers and advocates rise to the challenge of creating more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable transportation systems for all.

Before the pandemic, Urbanism Next developed a framework organizing the disruptions to cities caused by emerging transportation technologies on land use, urban design, building design, transportation, and real estate. COVID-19 has disrupted the trajectory of these emerging technologies and will, in turn, change some our original assumptions. This paper revisits the original Urbanism Next framework, taking into account the cascading impacts of the pandemic. This report is one of two reports completed by Urbanism Next on the impacts of Covid-19.

How is the COVID-19 pandemic changing urban living? In this paper, we explore the landscape of COVID-19 disruptions to date on land use and real estate, urban design, building design, transportation, e-commerce and retail, and goods delivery. We also highlight the longer-term questions and potential ongoing impacts COVID-19 might have on the built environment.

Urbano has been developed by Cornell University and other organizations. This software has some special features like download geospatial data, import and aggregate data, lookup and modify metadata, routing in different modes, analyze amenities and streets, integrated cad workflow, etc. Also, is useful to quantify urban parameters like amenity demand, streetscore, amenityscore and walkscore. It has a friendly interface to visualize different urban planning parameters.

Make pedestrian ways, particularly sidewalks, first class members of an open data transportation network. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project has made available extensive, user-contributed open data on transportation networks, providing the basis for many use cases and downstream activities, including rich analytics, travel route optimization, city planning, and disaster relief. Sidewalks in the built environment have generally been treated an addendum to streets, failing to serve people with limited mobility.

Modal race between different freight transport modes, which must include at least one cargo bike or trike. An origin, destination, time of the day and cargo weight are set. Each participant loads the cargo and starts travelling at the same time. Each one must carry a chronometer and there will be independent supervisors timing the participants as well. When arriving at the set destination, travel time is recorded for each participant and compared. Modelling costs, pollutant and GHG emissions, as well as predicted travel time, is useful to show additional benefits of using micromobility for freight transport. Using mobile apps to show positions in real time and streaming can also help the activity be more engaging and attractive.

"In this paper we put together a list of the basic instincts that drive and contain travelers' behavior, showing how they mesh with technological progress and economic constraints."

"This paper will address current progress and direction for autonomous vehicles, what this could mean for the future of transport and the possible analytical approaches to addressing these impacts."

"The advent of automated driving technology is poised to transform the trucking industry in the years and decades to come, but it is clear that autonomous trucks will not be ready to handle all driving tasks and conditions anytime soon. Instead, the developers of this technology are working to build a future where drivers and automation work hand in hand to transport freight more safely and efficiently."

The trucking industry is expected to be an early adopter of self-driving technology which could have a major impact on the truck-driving profession.

With the rapid growth of ride-hailing services, e-commerce and on-demand deliveries, demand for curb space has increased in urban areas.

This study explores the full life cycle impacts of connected and automated vehicles beyond just operational impacts to understand net energy and environmental performance.

This report studies how the use of Transportation Network Companies are increasing the demand for curb space and the potential related issues such as access, circulation, and safety.

This report merges analyses of distribution models, consumer behavior, data, and insight from trucking industry experts to advise on shifting retail logistics and supply chains. It will provide trucking industry stakeholders with a better understanding of how to adapt to the opportunities and challenges of e-commerce.

"Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) has adopted a groundbreaking micromobility strategy to address the “first mile/last mile problem.” The agency has partnered with JUMP, an electric micromobility provider, to offer on-demand access to and from light rail stations."

"Developed for cities, by cities, this guidance outlines best practices for cities and public entities regulating and managing shared micromobility services on their streets."

This article details a study done in the neighborhood of Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia to understand the relationship between e-scooter riders and non-riders in terms of e-scooter parking and pedestrian safety.

"The City of Santa Monica designed a pilot program to test shared electric scooters and bikes operated by private companies, using a flexible approach that could be responsive to community needs, technological advancements, and a nascent and evolving industry."

This zoning amendment aims to prepare the City of Chandler, Arizona for changes in land use as a result of changes in transportation behavior resulting from an increase in ride sharing and autonomous vehicles.

"This report aims to identify policy issues related to the use of AVs that will have a bearing on public health and to identify research topics that will support informed decisionmaking related to AVs and public health."

This report examines how TNCs contributed to increased roadway congestion in San Francisco between 2010 and 2016 relative to other factors such as population and employment growth, and transportation system changes.

What are transportation options for people with disabilities in San Francisco and how have these options been impacted by TNCs?

This article intends to inform policymakers of the potential effects of autonomous vehicles on road traffic congestion.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the first drone flight beyond the operator's line of sight as part of a joint program with the University of Arizona Fairbanks.

This paper explores the impacts of AVs on car trips using a case study of Victoria, Australia, specifically studying the potential increase in new trips and trip diversions from other modes such as public transport.

This paper examines the relationship between ride-hailing and parking demand by looking at ride-hailing trips that otherwise would have needed parking.

"NACTO research in seven cities shows that pairing bike share with protected bike lanes encourages riding, increases the visibility of people on bikes, and reduces overall biking risk."

While consumers have been making more sustainable choices in the physical retail environment, these habits have not translated as well into the digital shopping environment.

UPS has received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a “drone airline” which will first be used to build a drone delivery network for hospital campuses around the US.

As companies develop designs for package-bearing delivery drones, there are growing questions about the safety risks to the public.

This survey provides an inventory of daily travel in the US including demographic data on households, people, vehicles, and detailed information on daily travel by all modes of transportation and for all purposes.

This playbook is a continuously updated site that explores the core components of a comprehensive shared micromobility policy for local governments to consider.

This report explores how smart mobility technologies can address the current and future needs of transportation disadvantaged communities. It looks at the barriers different communities experience regarding access to smart mobility technologies, and potential solutions to overcoming these barriers.

"Transit agencies are forming partnerships with TNCs in order to make their services more available to a wider audience, to leverage new technology, and to improve mobility choices for their customers."

Common carrier locker systems are a way to provide secure, high density delivery locations in public spaces while improving delivery drivers’ efficiency. The University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab conducted a pilot project of this locker system in the Seattle Municipal Tower.

Transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft came onto the market with the mission to reduce congestion in cities, however data from major cities around the U.S. shows that they may be having the opposite impact on congestion and public transportation.

Increasing automation of vehicles presents may unknowns and concerns, the most important being safety, both in terms of road safety and cyber security. This report examines how these safety concerns will need to be addressed with emerging autonomous technologies by applying the principles of the "Safe System."

Postmates gained approval to begin testing delivery robots in San Francisco.

Flying delivery drones are meeting regulatory roadblocks and some companies are turning to small robots that make deliveries, by travelling on sidewalks, as a safer and more efficient alternative.

Current availability of technology and FAA regulations mean that, contrary to e-commerce company announcements, drones aren't able to deliver packages by air.

The introduction of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) in cities could potentially increase the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The implementation of dynamic ride-sharing (DRS) systems could limit this increase and potentially result in a net reduction in VMT.

Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are changing the way that people move around cities, affecting transit use, active transportation and congestion. Due to the rapid rise in popularity and lack of available data, city and transportation planners have been limited in their ability to make long-term decisions about transportation infrastructure.

Uber is developing an aerial taxi and looking to partner with cities who will allow testing of its upcoming all-electric vehicles.

“The introduction of driverless cars could affect how much money cities collect in parking, traffic citations, traffic cameras, towing fees, gasoline taxes, licensing, registration and other revenues.”

This article studies the relationship between gasoline consumption and urban design patterns by comparing 32 principal cities from around the world. The purpose is to evaluate physical planning policies for conserving transportation energy in urban areas.

Portland City Council adopted the Automated Vehicles policy in June 2018 regulating the operation of AVs in the city.

Uber is working on a plan to launch an urban air taxi service and has just joined with California-based aerospace company Joby Aviation.

Amazon announced plans to launch a Prime Air delivery drone, "a hybrid aircraft that’s capable of vertical takeoff and landing as well as sustained forward flight."

Uber planned to deliver food by drone in San Diego in a test program approved by the federal government.

This article questions the common assumptions that delivery drones would be more efficient, cost less and be better for the environment.

This study examines the impacts of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft on trends in travel, parking, car-rental and the economy by analyzing the effects of ride-hailing at four major airports in the U.S.

This report studies curb use at five typical locations in Greater Downtown Seattle to understand how cities can effectively manage curb access.

Across the U.S. growing eCommerce is resulting in increasing deliveries, most of which are inefficient and negatively affect the community. This report is the first in a series that analyzes the opportunities, challenges, and innovations related to eCommerce delivery.

Mobile robotics are traditionally designed using complex and expensive hardware, however now there is growing demand for low-cost solutions that are more specific to the given application.

Amazon has released their latest iteration of their design for a fully electric delivery drone.

Cargo drones are an emerging delivery technology that range in sizes from single item delivery capacities to plane-sized drones.

Meal delivery service Uber Eats unveiled the design for its delivery drone. Uber Eats hopes to use the drones for meal deliveries by next summer.

Food delivery service Postmates is building delivery robots to reduce reliance on vehicles. This endeavor faces many of the same challenges as autonomous vehicles, such as safety and public perception.

The United States Parcel Service (UPS) wants to expand its Flight Forward program to include private home drone delivery service.

This paper seeks to understand the potential causes of a decline in transit ridership by examining data from seven major U.S. cities – Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angles.

Robots delivering takeout from restaurants have begun circulating in Washington D.C.

The driverless car era unofficially began in 1925 when a radio equipment firm, Houdina Radio Control Co., built the first radio-operated automobile.

The Federal Aviation Administration awarded the United Parcel Service certification to use drones for delivery on medical campuses. This came after a year of working together on the terms of the certification.

This resource outlines the history of drones from 1907 through present day.

A guide explaining the benefits and drawbacks of carsharing and comparing four popular carsharing companies.

This report discusses the varying benefits of carsharing and why individual vehicle ownership causes problems for cities and has a lesser public benefit than carsharing.

This resource includes a comprehensive overview of several types of shared mobility. The key modes reviewed include: car sharing, peer-to-peer carsharing, bike sharing, carpooling/ride sharing, and ride hailing.

This report explores peer-to-peer carsharing, its impacts on travel behavior, and how it can be incorporated with other shared mobility services.

This resource discusses the history of carsharing and how it is evolving to meet current transportation needs.

This presentation outlines the ways automation will "change the daily travel decisions of individuals and alter overall vehicle miles traveled and energy use."

This article considers if utilizing drones for goods delivery is more efficient than traditional truck delivery, but it depends on the source of energy and size of the delivery.

RideorDrive.org is meant to inform consumers about whether they should purchase a vehicle or switch entirely to using ridesharing services in the future.

A podcast discussing the history and future of UberEats. It explores their relationships with restaurants and customers, and how they use data to improve their service.

This article examines the potential effects of driving on health and well-being.

This article examines the relationship between urban form and vehicle miles travelled, especially as it relates to last mile goods delivery and greenhouse gas emissions.